LFL can wait until next week. It's kind of embarrassing anyway...
The NFL has moved the spot for kickoffs up 5 yards from the 30 to the 35 yard line. When I first heard about it I didn't think it would be a really big deal. It was just 1994 that kickoffs were moved back to the 30 yard line anyway. So what could happen in 17 years that would make this a big deal? I even heard somewhere that the average kickoff last year ended up 5 1/4 yards in front of the goal line. So logic would tell me the average kickoff from the new spot should end up just about at the goal line. But through three weeks of the preseason it looks like I was WAY off! In fact, I can't believe the uproar it has caused amongst players and sportswriters alike.
So far in the preseason, kickers seem to be booting the ball out of the back of the end zone (10 yards) for touchbacks quite regularly. So how is it that moving the ball forward 5 yards gets the ball kicked 15 yards past the average landing spot last year? Well, my initial thought concerns how the average landing spot last year was determined*. But even so, I've seen a few kickers put the ball through the uprights on kickoffs. If kickers are able to do that from the 35 yard line, shouldn't they have been able to put the ball at least 5-7 yards deep in the end zone last year from the 30 yard line? Sounds logical to me but that doesn't seem to be the way it's working.
I suppose there are also warm weather considerations. But how much further will a ball travel in warm air than cold (wind is not a consideration)? To me it seems like the added humidity of summer would cancel out the air density factors of warm air versus cold. So, maybe the ball travels 2-3 yards further in summer?
Anyway, all of this is my long-winded way of saying, "I don't get it, how does 5 yards become 15?" Maybe someone can explain it to me.
Just Joe
* Was every kick into the end zone just considered a "zero" when calculating the average or was the depth into the end zone considered? Example: let's look at two different calculation scenarios. Let's say a kickoff lands at the 5 yard line and a second kickoff lands 7 yards deep into the end zone. If every kick into the end zone is simply considered a touchback -- probably considered the 0 yard line -- then the average of those two kicks would be 2 1/2 yards in front of the end zone. If the 7 yards into the end zone is considered, then the average would actually be -1 or 1 yard into the endzone.
NEXT WEEK: LFL (maybe)
Showing posts with label NFL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NFL. Show all posts
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
What is a Sport?
... or more precisely "what activities qualify as a sport?" It seems like a pretty simple question but I've had many conversations with people who were discussing exactly that. First I'll make a short and incomplete list of sports and non-sports as I see them. Then once some of you are sufficiently aggravated I'll give my reasoning.
Sports: Football, Futbol/Soccer, Hockey, Baseball/Softball, Tennis, Basketball, Boxing, Table Tennis, Water Polo, Auto Racing (begrudgingly), Volleyball, Cycling (non-time trials)
Not Sports: Figure Skating, Track and Field events (except running events where runners are allowed to leave their lanes), Swimming, Diving, Darts, Skydiving, Water Skiing, Gymnastics, Snow Skiing, Surfing, Bungee Jumping, Cycling (time trials) AND... Golf!
So there you have it, an incomplete list of both sports and non-sports. Reasoning time!
I use two simple guidelines in determining a sport. Guideline 1: If judging is the only component to determining a winner, then it's not a sport. Guideline 2: If someone isn't trying to impede whatever you're trying to achieve, it's not a sport. Or put another way, no defense, no sport.
I'd like to make an important distinction here. Just because I don't believe a particular activity is a sport, does NOT mean I think the participants are not athletes. In fact, running fast, jumping high and far, swimming fast, hand eye coordination, foot eye coordination and body control are practically definitions of athleticism in my book. But if you are restricting the athleticism to a comparative event, then you're basically engaging in a "skills challenge"; let's see who does a technically better dive, let's see who runs faster, let's see who can jump further, etc. These might compare and measure athleticism but they are not sports. Gymnastics is a great example of athletes in a non-sport. Is anyone more athletic than a gymnast? Athletically they have it all: speed, strength, flexibility, endurance, coordination. But what they are doing in competition is a skills challenge not a sport. They are being rated on the technique of their discipline and are actually in competition with their own selves to perform the discipline as flawlessly as possible. A panel of judges then decides who was closest to perfect. This is akin to watching batting practice, fielding practice and pitcher warm-ups for both teams before a baseball game and then deciding a winner based on the batters' swings, fielders' form and pitchers' "stuff!" Thus, gymnasts are athletes but gymnastics is not a sport.
Sport vs Skills Challenge examples: Cycling time trials (when cyclists are separately timed over a set distance) and running events that require staying in a lane involve athletes. But after both competitions, times are compared and a winner declared; not a sport. Cycling or running in a pack can involve defense in that your progress can be purposely impeded by another participant; sport. Golf is a funky type obstacle course; not a sport. Combat sports (MMA, boxing, etc.) use judges but only after an allotted time (for fighter safety) in which the fighters themselves can decide the outcome; sport.
One last example to wrap up my Sport vs Skills Challenge argument is the NFL Scouting Combine. Many college football players who are eligible for the NFL Draft are invited to this event so they can be weighed and measured in an attempt to impress an NFL team. They run the 40 yard dash to measure speed. They jump vertically from a standing position to measure vertical leap. They broad jump to measure leg power. They have several change of direction drills designed to measure quickness and body control. All of these are athletic skills. But the scouts are there to try to figure out how an individual will translate those skills onto a field in the sport of football.
There you have it, my take on Sport vs. Non-Sport. I'm expecting to hear from angry golfers but we'll see.
Just Joe
NEXT WEEK: Story Time with Grampa Joe
Sports: Football, Futbol/Soccer, Hockey, Baseball/Softball, Tennis, Basketball, Boxing, Table Tennis, Water Polo, Auto Racing (begrudgingly), Volleyball, Cycling (non-time trials)
Not Sports: Figure Skating, Track and Field events (except running events where runners are allowed to leave their lanes), Swimming, Diving, Darts, Skydiving, Water Skiing, Gymnastics, Snow Skiing, Surfing, Bungee Jumping, Cycling (time trials) AND... Golf!
So there you have it, an incomplete list of both sports and non-sports. Reasoning time!
I use two simple guidelines in determining a sport. Guideline 1: If judging is the only component to determining a winner, then it's not a sport. Guideline 2: If someone isn't trying to impede whatever you're trying to achieve, it's not a sport. Or put another way, no defense, no sport.
I'd like to make an important distinction here. Just because I don't believe a particular activity is a sport, does NOT mean I think the participants are not athletes. In fact, running fast, jumping high and far, swimming fast, hand eye coordination, foot eye coordination and body control are practically definitions of athleticism in my book. But if you are restricting the athleticism to a comparative event, then you're basically engaging in a "skills challenge"; let's see who does a technically better dive, let's see who runs faster, let's see who can jump further, etc. These might compare and measure athleticism but they are not sports. Gymnastics is a great example of athletes in a non-sport. Is anyone more athletic than a gymnast? Athletically they have it all: speed, strength, flexibility, endurance, coordination. But what they are doing in competition is a skills challenge not a sport. They are being rated on the technique of their discipline and are actually in competition with their own selves to perform the discipline as flawlessly as possible. A panel of judges then decides who was closest to perfect. This is akin to watching batting practice, fielding practice and pitcher warm-ups for both teams before a baseball game and then deciding a winner based on the batters' swings, fielders' form and pitchers' "stuff!" Thus, gymnasts are athletes but gymnastics is not a sport.
Sport vs Skills Challenge examples: Cycling time trials (when cyclists are separately timed over a set distance) and running events that require staying in a lane involve athletes. But after both competitions, times are compared and a winner declared; not a sport. Cycling or running in a pack can involve defense in that your progress can be purposely impeded by another participant; sport. Golf is a funky type obstacle course; not a sport. Combat sports (MMA, boxing, etc.) use judges but only after an allotted time (for fighter safety) in which the fighters themselves can decide the outcome; sport.
One last example to wrap up my Sport vs Skills Challenge argument is the NFL Scouting Combine. Many college football players who are eligible for the NFL Draft are invited to this event so they can be weighed and measured in an attempt to impress an NFL team. They run the 40 yard dash to measure speed. They jump vertically from a standing position to measure vertical leap. They broad jump to measure leg power. They have several change of direction drills designed to measure quickness and body control. All of these are athletic skills. But the scouts are there to try to figure out how an individual will translate those skills onto a field in the sport of football.
There you have it, my take on Sport vs. Non-Sport. I'm expecting to hear from angry golfers but we'll see.
Just Joe
NEXT WEEK: Story Time with Grampa Joe
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